Little Shop of Horrors

The 1986 film version of this musical comedy instilled in me a deep fear of being eaten by a Venus flytrap, and an even deeper fear of having a leather pants-clad Steve Martin turn up as my sadistic dentist. The film—about a nerdy florist named Seymour (Rick Moranis) who raises a giant, lascivious plant that feeds on human blood and sports the deep, gravelly voice of R&B performer Levi Stubbs—is adapted from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's off-Broadway musical, which in turn was adapted from a Roger Corman film of the same name. (The 1960 original was reportedly shot in just two days.) As the vicious plant, Audrey II, grows bigger and stronger, Seymour must wrestle up food through increasingly bloody means. It's a little jarring that something so dark and twisted features such catchy songs. Fortunately, the film has a happier ending than the play, which ends morbidly for all. —Emma Miller